


The Fallen Star

by Jennicide (yenyen)



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat, The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Maybe One Day Damen Will Listen to Nikandros, Misunderstandings, My Lore Ideas Ain’t Much but They’re Honest Work, One-Sided Attraction, Possible Spoilers, Slow Burn, Speculative Theories, Startouch!Laurent, Sunfire!Damen, The Regent Is Still a Dip Even in Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yenyen/pseuds/Jennicide
Summary: A new permanent resident is haunting the halls of Lux Aurea’s royal palace. Laurent, a Startouch elf from the hidden lands of Inlustris, has been sentenced to serve out a lifelong punishment for the crimes his family committed against Xadia. And it might not be so horrible if he didn’t have to suffer the attention of a foolish Sunfire princeling who refuses to leave him be.
Relationships: Damen & Nikandros (Captive Prince), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1 // Laurent

* * *

Laurent strode to his usual corner of the Great Library with three leather bound books under his arm, ignoring any of the other patrons as he passed by. He’d long since grown accustomed to their stares, their unspoken revulsion and the thinly veiled hate lurking just below the surface of their otherwise cordial behavior and pleasantries. It was uncomfortable but tolerable. The only things that mattered to Laurent anymore were the books Lux Aurea’s head scholar allowed him to read. His access to greater collections of this library’s content, however, was still severely restricted since he was not just some average royal visiting to tour the elven kingdoms.

To be more precise, he was a prisoner, their prisoner, and he would never be anything more than that again.

Finding the alcove he often frequented empty, Laurent reached down to readjust his trailing robes for sitting. The window before him showed a clear blue sky with the small shapes of passing sunbirds and mounted riders floating by. It was entirely too bright and cheerful for him to stare at for very long.

Having sat, he picked up his first book. It was a collection of myths and legends native to the Sunfire elves, and he opened it to the index. This and other historical texts on the founding and traditions of Lux Aurea were all he was permitted to read despite having insisted numerous times to the head scholar that his only intentions were to consume books for pleasure and not to help him plot an escape.

He’d since given up hope reasoning with the old elf after a month of futile attempts. It appeared that nothing would change her mind.

Faintly, he caught himself thinking that he should be grateful he was allowed even this, but such a limited collection of texts would certainly lose their appeal in the coming centuries that he had to look forward to. Sighing quietly, he looked down and began reading.

Laurent had scarcely gotten through the titles of all the works on the first page when he felt an uncomfortable sensation of being watched. He lowered the book and gazed up slowly so as not to alarm his would-be stalker. The culprit was none other than who he had initially suspected, Prince Damianos, second-born son of King Theomedes, the current ruler of Lux Aurea.

It was a struggle to refrain from rolling his eyes at the prince’s unwanted attention.

Realizing that he could no more will his admirer away than he could spirit himself from his present situation, Laurent gathered up his books and took off to find another unfrequented area of the library. This space was hidden further from the sight of wide windows and coveting eyes deeper in the older archives of natural elven history, texts and scrolls that existed since before time was time. Hardly anyone visited that section. Surely, he would be safe there.

A gentle tinkling of the magick addler, a decorative contraption attached to and strung between his horns, announced each footfall. Its thin silver chains were connected between their respective rings and swayed in time with every one of his steps, light glinting off the small embedded beads of obsidian and fluorite set into the two sets of locks looped tightly around the pedicles and beams of his horns.

Thoughtlessly, Laurent’s hand reached up to catch one of the dangling chains. The metal felt brittle to the touch, as though it could be removed with a simple flick of his wrist, but he knew its enchantments made it stronger than even sunforged steel. It was ironic, really, how something so seemingly delicate could serve as the same restraint that rendered him powerless.

A shiver ran down his spine as he thought back to the day these chains became a part of him.

* * *

_Everything was moving too slow and too fast simultaneously. His father was being led away up the steep court steps where his family’s sentencing had just been passed by the high elven council, a cabinet of elders composed of representatives from every nation._

_Laurent felt himself reaching out, calling out, doing anything he could to reverse the appeal his father had made on his behalf, but his limbs, his voice, everything was heavy as though steeped in lead. The door was closing as soon as it had opened, and no longer was he able to see the shape of his father, the man who had willingly agreed to suffer Laurent’s punishment to spare his youngest the ruling he most certainly deserved._

_Hands wrapped forcibly around his upper arms, tugging him up and away. The hard jerking motion tossed his head to the side, and there was Auguste, standing and allowing himself to be handled just as roughly. His own new guards, Earthblood, hauled him away from the long table as well. He tried to offer Laurent a small smile, something courageous and meant to reassure him that everything would be fine, but a deep sorrow resonated in the pale blue pools of Auguste’s eyes, his effort a weak one. Valiantly, he did his best to remain calm as Laurent finally lost control over his emotions, Auguste’s own skin flushing a deeper indigo, an acute sign of distress, to match his brother’s._

_The tears burned as they seeped out of Laurent’s eyes, and it was becoming impossibly harder to breathe the farther Auguste was taken from him._ Settle, _Auguste mouthed to him silently, finally turning away and allowing himself to be led out another set of doors on the left-hand side of the great hall._

_Laurent felt a keen sense of loss the moment his brother was taken from his sight. It overwhelmed him, and he felt his entire weight become the sudden heavy responsibility of those still holding onto him. They were taking him somewhere as well, but a different direction from his father and his brother._

_It wasn’t until they brought him before an unknown elf, Moonshadow, with a hammer in one hand and rings of silver chains glittering in the other, that he realized he was in real danger._

_As all Startouch elves were blessed by the heavens above, it was no secret that Laurent was one of the most magickally gifted of his generation. Laurent’s power lay in his ability to connect to multiple primal sources of magick; something few others could boast even in his region and completely unheard of outside of Inlustris._

_A dark hand, the brown color of a nut, reached out to steady his chin as the blacksmith grabbed hold of his right horn. It hurt, the way they fought him, and Laurent was too distraught to do much else than kick and scream. The first lock, attached close to the top of his skull throbbed as it was enchanted by the smith, magick washing over him but not empowering him the way it usually did. It felt like a vice, like a leech, and Laurent panicked, his eyes flashing white as something primal, something celestial rioted within him at its painful death._

_Shouts of “Hurry” and “Hold him”echoed all around, and a second ring was placed around his left horn. As the magick inside him was suppressed, one searing incantation after another, Laurent felt a bone-deep ache take root within his body, starting from his core and burning down into his fingertips and toes. Another series of rings were attached with less of a struggle; Laurent’s energy fading until the only things keeping him upright were the ones who had done this to him._

_Darkness licked at the edge of his watery vision, and he gladly welcomed it to swallow him whole._

_He awoke several hours later, wrists bound in enchanted shackles decorated with complex seals he’d never seen before and head heavy from the weight of an unwanted headdress, the ornamentation they’d previously affixed to him. It jingled faintly as the chains shook in between his horns caused by some unseen movement._

_They were going somewhere._

_“He’s stirring,” a soft voice said._

_Laurent blinked his eyes to clear them and caught sight of two Sunfire elves, the same ones who had grabbed him and held him still for the smith, who had stolen him away from his brother and father before he could even finish saying goodbye._

_They were in some kind of enclosed space, a small lantern burning bright with sun primal magick glowing in between them. Laurent took the opportunity to assess his captors. One of them was fair for someone from the proud nation of Sun. His markings were simple, a tracing of the eyelids that ended in sharp points angled down in line with the width of his mouth. A single stripe of gold split the bottom lip he worried in between pearly white teeth, and his reddish hair was shaved short on the sides and piled loosely in smaller sections atop the center of his head._

_“Don’t pay him any mind,” another, deeper voice replied. Laurent turned to face its owner. This one was bigger and darker than the other, his hair braided and pulled back in a high style that allowed only two smaller sections, ornamented with a pair of simple gold rings, to frame the hard shape of his face. Triangular markings were painted on his skin, one at the center of his forehead and two along the sides of his chin. His amber eyes narrowed when he caught sight of Laurent staring at him._

_Laurent glared right back. He would have spit at their feet, said something inappropriate and scathing if he had any energy left to stoke his hatred of them and what they had done. But as it was, he found himself weaker than an_ _adoraburr_ _, completely subject to the whims of the people he was stuck with._

_There was anger that welled up in him at this realization, and the last inkling of resistance Laurent felt, his basest urge to flee, to escape, to get back to those he’d lost, churned within his gut one more time. He felt his weakened magick spark and crackle with a vengeance._

_It was quick, the moment his new ornamentation flared to life and sent a jolt of electricity coursing through him, immediately disrupting the natural flow of his primal energies and staunching them as a compress does a bleeding wound. His body jerked and quivered at the unpleasant sensation, convulsing and rattling him down to his bones._

_“Serves you right,” he faintly heard the larger of his two guards say, his voice melting into the blackness that consumed Laurent once more._

* * *

That was weeks ago, and Laurent had successfully been delivered in one piece to Lux Aurea's royal palace, the gilded cage meant to keep him captive till the end of his days. Which, based on his heritage, would be a very long time.

He released the chain he'd been holding and caught sight of an empty alcove hidden mostly out of sight by a couple of tall bookshelves.

It took a few more minutes before he was finally comfortable enough to reopen his book and begin reading where he left off. The first short story he got through was about a young man who thought himself above reproach from the Sun God's judgment. His folly was short-lived, though, when the punishment for his hubris was doled out appropriately three pages later.

For this character, at least, the sentence had been befitting of his offense. The same could not be said for Laurent or his family, and he found himself confronting a complex tangle of emotions still residing within him as he thought back to his father and brother. Where were they now? What were they doing? Did he ever cross their minds as they often did his?

He shut his book and leaned back against the cold wall of the recess he inhabited, the tips of his horns clacking quietly against the sandstone. Laurent’s pale blonde hair fell directly into his line of sight a moment later, and he blew out a light puff of air to force it aside. That was when he caught sight of a familiar gold and red clad figure ducking behind a nearby bookcase.

Another sigh. Typical.

He'd been followed, again. This was not some uncommon practice either; it had been happening with increasing regularity ever since the day he'd arrived and been shown Lux Aurea’s royal family, which was charged with keeping him imprisoned and under control at all times.

Doing his best to ignore it, Laurent sat straighter and brought his book up higher to block the view of Damianos lurking in his periphery. So long as the stupid princeling did not approach him and make his presence explicitly known, Laurent could pretend he'd never seen him in the first place.

It was better this way, he told himself, thumbing to the next story in his book of myths.

He didn't care about anyone or anything anymore. It would be even better if others could return that apathy in kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is that weird Captive Prince/The Dragon Prince fic that no one asked for, but I really wanted all the same. Possible spoilers(?) for those of you who have not seen season three of The Dragon Prince, though it's purely speculative on my part. I hope that you enjoy what I have planned.
> 
> Special thanks to [cheekysstyles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheekysstyles) and [Vixen13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vixen13) for hyping me up and proofreading my mess. You guys are the best!


	2. Chapter 2 // Damen

* * *

Damen clicked his tongue when Laurent blocked his view of that lovely face with a copy of Aurean Mythology, a book Damen recalled being read to him once or twice by his tutor when he was little. He remembered that it contained a few interesting tales, but they were the last thing he cared about at the moment.

Two weeks had passed since this mysterious visitor had come into his family’s home, and he was instantly smitten the second he’d laid eyes on him. Damen had never seen anyone quite like Laurent before—in fact, few had because Startouch elves were so rare and elusive in their hidden kingdom of Inlustris. It was by sheer coincidence that he even ended up here in the first place, Damen’s father having told him that being banished to Lux Aurea was Laurent’s punishment for some unspeakable crime he’d committed against Xadia.

Well, not him per se, but his family.

There were rumors running abound that dark magic was involved, but Damen didn’t tend to weigh court gossip very heavily. The only thing that convinced him there may be some truth involved with those rumors was the magick addler adorning Laurent’s slender horns. He’d only ever seen one once before when an archmage’s young apprentice was disciplined for purposely misusing his magick. That had been temporary though, gone after a week, whereas Laurent’s placement was intended to be much more permanent.

The enchanted headpieces were designed to disrupt the wearer’s connection to their primal source of magick while also serving as a form of public humiliation, an obvious marker of misdeeds. Despite that, Damen couldn’t help but feel the addler did the opposite, only enhancing Laurent’s natural beauty. His skin was a dark lavender, opaquest at his torso and gradually fading into a lighter shade of lilac on his face and hands. Flecks of luminous starlight speckled his cheeks and forearms.

He was truly breathtaking.

“Exalted!”

Damen startled and whipped his head around to glare at the unwelcome interloper. It was Nikandros. He looked more disgruntled than usual, tapping his boot against the sun-bleached tile that lined the floor of the Great Library’s historical archives.

“Nik, keep your voice down,” Damen hissed, turning back to see if Laurent had overheard their exchange. He hadn’t moved or changed positions yet, but that didn’t mean anything as Laurent wasn’t usually reactive to things that went on around him. It was actually another one of his charms, Damen caught himself thinking unabashedly. The untouchable nature that Laurent projected was as enticing as the prospect of overcoming a near impossible challenge, a hunt where the prey had more advantages than the predator, where the prey might even be another predator itself.

Damen shivered at that thought. There was nothing better than a good chase.

“You’re late,” Nik tried again, his voice a little lower but still too loud in such an enclosed, intimate setting.

“What of it?” Damen took one last look at the long limbs sprawled out in the alcove before him. The position was unbecoming of someone deemed royalty, but Damen was quick to notice these little idiosyncrasies in Laurent, how he had a habit of kicking one leg out and bending the other wide whenever he actually allowed himself to relax. Laurent’s long dark robes often tended to hide the shape of his lithe body. Seated like this, Laurent was on display, and Damen refused to miss any opportunity to drink his fill of such candid reactions.

Nikandros cleared his throat, interrupting him once more, and reached for something tucked into the side of his golden belt. It was a scroll.

“Is that-” Damen began, reaching up to claim the missive he’d been desperately awaiting for days on end. Nik snatched his hand away and took a step back.

“Perhaps,” he said, watching as Damen turned away from the one he’d dubbed Lux Aurea’s Startouched nuisance. “It arrived by sunbird this morning, from Earthblood territory. I might even be inclined to give it to you if you follow me to the great hall where your father and brother have patiently been waiting for your arrival this last half hour.”

Damen cursed under his breath. He’d lost track of time again. He rushed forward to swipe the scroll out of Nik’s hand, pointedly ignoring his protests, and stalked out of the archives in a hurry.

“The meeting was today?”

“Of course it was today,” Nikandros clucked, trailing after him without bothering to steal back the scroll.

“And I’m to assume only you knew where to find me?”

“Hardly,” Nik huffed. “Everyone knows where to find you. You do not hide your intentions well at all.” He finally caught up with Damen and fell into step with him, the golden scales of his chainmail clicking in time with their footfalls. “Your attention has been nowhere else since _he_ arrived.”

Damen ignored Nikandros’ inflection and kept facing straight ahead.

“I know you, Damen,” Nik used his small name, speaking quietly as they approached the tall ornate doors of the king’s inner sanctum. “It is no secret you have a penchant for pretty things, but you should be more wary.”

Nikandros had been one of Lux Aurea’s honor guards sent to retrieve Laurent from the high elven council after his family’s sentence was passed. He’d even been present for part of the proceedings, namely the ruling of judgment and application of punishments. Thus, it went without saying that he’d already warned Damen of the disconcerting history their new guest, now dwelling within their walls, carried with him. He’d done so more than once, the moment he’d recognized Damen’s piqued interest was beyond a passing curiosity.

Likely, it was either he or Pallas, the other honor guard who’d been sent on the same mission, who were the progenitors of Laurent’s court rumors that surrounded him and his family’s supposed affiliation with dark magick.

Damen knew that would not have been intentional or meant to add shame to Laurent or his family. Nikandros wasn’t normally one for gossip, but he would answer any question asked of him with an honest and straightforward response if it was within his power to do so. His no nonsense attitude was something Damen deeply respected about Nikandros. Well, that and how he could fearlessly chastise a prince to his face for keeping their king and crown prince waiting.

They stopped before closed doors, two guards moving aside to let them pass. Damen brought his hand up to the large red and gold door before him and moved to press it open when his wrist was caught in Nikandros’ strong grasp.

“You’re not late,” Nik told him. “I needed to say something to get you out of there.”

Damen paused to look at his childhood friend turned personal guard.

“Damen,” Nikandros sighed. “Damianos.” The weight of his full name was heavy coming from Nik’s lips. “My friend, promise me you’ll not read too deeply into that letter. It won’t matter what it says if the rumors are true. You should not-” Damen’s grip tightened on the scroll ever so slightly at that, and Nik cut himself off, releasing Damen’s wrist as though he suddenly thought better of telling his prince what he should and should not do.

In the two weeks Laurent had been in Lux Aurea’s custody, his only crimes were being sullen and aloof. Thankfully, Damen was the sort of person who preferred to make up his own mind on the character of others based on evidence and not hearsay. While he usually appreciated Nik’s point of view on a great many things, this was not one of them.

It had been Damen’s decision to reach out in search of more information first. Only the details contained within this scroll, about Laurent and who he really was, would be what Damen took into consideration besides his own objective findings.

So before he could wax poetic about the right and proper way to fairly judge another or even lecture Nikandros about his place to question a prince at all, Damen tucked the scroll away inside his robes to avoid further confrontation. Those long drawn out discussions would have to wait for another time. Damen’s father and brother needed his full attention now, and he wanted to be every bit the prince they expected of him.

Nik said nothing more, and together, they opened the doors.

* * *

The sun set and rose many times before Damen was finally able to work up the courage to approach Laurent in the library. He had spent the last few nights reading and rereading the scroll he’d received earlier in the week, eyes carefully tracing over every word and letter on the parchment for any little nuance that could get him closer to understanding more about his father’s unresponsive ward.

Though he had access to some of the best and brightest tutors and scholars in Lux Aurea during his upbringing, Damen still wasn’t comfortable formulating plans or strategies outside of a war room. Making friends or having his way with a lovely consort had never before been difficult tasks for him. Being a prince, Damen wasn’t hurting to receive attention from others. More often than not, he’d been overrun with lords and ladies throwing themselves or their children at him in an attempt to garner favor with his family.

Nikandros was one such playmate who’d become a lifelong friend, his uncle a highly respected general in King Theomedes’ army. They’d been inseparable from a young age and grown closer over the years. Nikandros was normally very supportive of Damen and his endeavors, but unfortunately for Damen, what he was about to do now was not something Nik would be willing to help him with. Though he was his friend, and a dear one to be sure, Nik had already made his particular stance on Laurent quite clear. He thought it best if Damen left well enough alone and stopped playing with a dangerous fire before he was burned.

Looking at his reflection once more in the mirror, Damen readjusted his leathers.

One important detail from the scroll stated that riding had been an important pastime for Laurent back in Inlustris. His family was renowned for owning a fine line of luminynx, and Laurent would often be in their stalls caring for the beasts or out along the cliffs, riding one to distance himself from the pressures of being a noble lord’s second son.

That was another thing they had in common, Damen thought, finally satisfied enough with his appearance to begin the long trek to the library.

Being anyone’s second best was never a pleasant feeling, and Damen wondered how many times Laurent had been made to feel bereft of his father’s attention over the years. Of course, it was not their older siblings’ fault; both he and Laurent had merely been dealt a lousy hand being born too late so as not to matter as much as their elder brothers.

There were some perks to being second in line for a title and meager inheritance though, and this was something Damen planned to take advantage of now.

Kastor would never have been allowed to associate with someone such as Laurent, but there would be no objection for Damen to do so. The worst that might happen would be that his father and brother thought him as foolish as Nikandros, but Damen knew he would be safe from any long-lasting repercussions in the end. He could do as he pleased despite anyone’s judgment.

When he entered the library, it wasn’t difficult for Damen to spot Laurent. He still stood out too starkly despite his best efforts to hide himself behind endless shelves of books.

This afternoon he was seated by the window, bright rays of sun bathing the crown of his pale hair and headpiece in sparkling light. The gemstones embedded in the metalwork surrounding his horns twinkled as Damen approached. He made sure to purposely add weight to announce his steps so as not to startle Laurent, but the little lordling did not respond all the same. His face was buried deep in a different book, this one about the history of Lux Aurea’s agriculture. It looked horribly dry and boring, but Laurent’s eyes were glued to the script on the pages before him.

Damen allowed the moment of intentional ignorance to drag on until it became apparent Laurent would never acknowledge him without a direct action to command his attention. That was unusual for Damen, but also refreshing in a way. He’d never had to work hard for something or someone before.

He cleared his throat once, twice, and finally received _a look_. Granted, Laurent had not lowered his book nor even deigned to fully meet the Prince’s gaze, but his eyes were tilted up, showing that he was focused on something other than the antiquated farming practices of Damen’s father’s kingdom.

“Hello,” Damen said quietly with a smile, one he hoped was charming. It was important that he appear overly friendly, anything to avoid apparent suspicion and frighten Laurent off for good. The scroll had stated that Laurent was a quiet youth, always had been, and could often be found with his nose in books even back home in Inlustris. It had also noted that he tended to respond to others by reflecting the attitudes given to him.

This knowledge and more had given Damen hope that it might be possible to get Laurent talking to him, reacting with more than just a blank stare, as long as he made sure his initial advances were taken slowly. First impressions had never mattered as much as this.

Laurent’s pupils narrowed, the only sign he was actively listening to what Damen was saying to him, but still no response came.

So, Damen tried again.

“I was wondering if you’d accompany me to the stables for a ride today. I know that inferno tooth tigers are not native to your region, but they’re very sturdy mounts.”

Still nothing.

“They can also be a little temperamental.” One of Laurent’s fingers twitched on the cover of his book, but no greater reaction was forthcoming, so Damen went on. “If one of the unclaimed mounts should take to you, I would be all right with you keeping it as your own.”

A minute or two passed before Laurent finally lowered his book. This close, Damen could make out all of the intricate patterns of Laurent’s facial markings. There was a diamond perfectly placed on the tip of his nose, pointing upward toward cool blue eyes set in black sclera. The lower rims of his eyelids were lined in the same bright ink that painted two additional pairs of matching diamonds on each cheek. All of these designs blended in seamlessly with the natural speckles of starlight that were peppered over the rest of him. Laurent’s mouth was schooled in a neutral expression as he stared back at Damen with an intensity that he’d only ever felt from the disapproving looks of his father.

He was so drawn in by the sudden attention, focused solely on him for once, that he barely registered the reply Laurent gave.

“Why?” came the faint riposte.

Damen nearly lost his balance at the query, taking a step back to steady himself. Laurent’s disinterested tone of voice had him reeling. A question to his question was not something he’d been expecting.

“Wha-” he struggled to come up with a reason. No little lord questioned a prince! He’d not prepared for this contingency. Damen knew his own motives for wanting to be close to Laurent, wanting to know more about him the way a child can become obsessively fixated on a new amusement. But Laurent was not a toy, he was a real being. So how did one tactfully say they were making unsolicited offers out of kindness without arousing suspicion that they were seeking something more?

Damen could not truthfully deny that he was doing this because he _did_ desire more. Whether or not his efforts would be successful was yet to be determined.

He needed to come up with something quick or risk losing this opportunity.

“I…” Damen faltered again, his panic rising as he watched Laurent resign himself to never getting a proper response. He lowered his gaze back to that accursed agricultural book once more, propping it up in between them as an impenetrable wall to block Damen from his view.

It was painfully clear that this conversation was over, and Damen had never even gotten a chance to reply. Instead, he’d been made a fool of with as simple as a single word. Nowhere in that scroll had Laurent’s tongue been described as that of a soulfang’s, and Damen was flush with embarrassment.

Being a prince made no difference to Laurent, and Damen should have expected as much because Laurent was his family’s prisoner, a royally treated one but a political prisoner nonetheless. He should have thought more about his approach before coming here. How would Damen have reacted in the same position? Would he have been so eager to jump into the seemingly manipulative hands of his warden’s son?

It did not matter the bait, a wise prey never took it if something was amiss. Laurent would not be so easily snared by petty offers of camaraderie or a fanciful ride out to the clifftops.

Further embarrassed by the time spent admonishing himself in silence, Damen turned and left without another word. He would think about this failure and how he could make improvements to his approach the next time.

* * *

Lingering upset of his afternoon failure kept Damen in his cups later that evening over a private meal shared with Nikandros. He’d gone straight back to his room, dismissing any servants along the way, asking not to be disturbed. Even the scholar who’d come knocking before dinner had been told to come back tomorrow despite the various texts he’d been forced to trudge from the library to Damen’s quarters per his prince’s request.

Would they even matter now, Damen wondered as he absently stuffed another bite of roasted meat into his mouth. Laurent could already access the same books Damen could.

Seeing Damen’s cup low, Nik reached over to refill it but found the wine bottle they’d been sharing was now empty.

“Something troubling you?” he asked astutely as ever, setting the glass vessel back on the table with a soft thunk.

Damen grumbled and rested his head in his hand. “Why would you think that,” he mumbled, just beginning to feel the haze of drunkenness settling in.

“You look horrid, my friend. Like something has disturbed your peace.”

“I spoke to Laurent today,” Damen confessed, his eyes unwilling to meet Nikandros’ as the admission settled between the two of them.

“You did what?” A chalice tipped over and spilled its contents on the table. Red wine seeped into the hardwood, spreading dangerously close, but Damen didn’t bother moving away.

“Damianos,” Nik used his full name. “You are joking. Surely, this is some kind of-”

“No,” Damen interrupted. He looked up and met Nikandros’ disapproving stare. His brow furrowed in concern. The triangular marking on his forehead was scrunched, making his expression harsher somehow. “I would not lie to you, Nik, but you need not be concerned. I was…” Damen reached for his own cup and downed the remaining contents in one swallow.

He’d spent some more time pouring over the scroll since then, trying to determine where he’d made a misstep and was not nearly intoxicated enough to admit defeat just yet.

“Unsuccessful?” Nikandros said with a hint of humor in his voice, as though Damen’s plight was amusing to him. And maybe it was, but the upset was still too fresh for Damen to join in and share the laugh. He merely nodded and reached for another morsel off the platter, this one having managed to avoid the spill of wine.

“I cannot believe you,” Nikandros went on, standing up and making his way to the door. “You do not heed warnings very well, do you?”

Damen shook his head and continued chewing slowly, half listening to Nik call for a servant from the doorway. The only word he understood from their exchange was _griva_ , and Damen felt his insides churn at the thought of that particularly foul liquid joining the contents of his stomach.

One did not drink griva for pleasure; one drank griva to forget.

Perhaps suggesting an afternoon ride was a bit too forward to start, but what else could Damen do to impress Laurent? The high scholar had made it clear this morning that Laurent was expressly forbidden from accessing certain texts in the library’s collection due to the nature of his punishment.

The addler on his head was responsible for suppressing the physical manifestation of Laurent’s innate powers, and no one was willing to allow him access to greater knowledge involving new, foreign magick either. No one besides Damen at least, and the librarian had been very adamant that Laurent was no ordinary mage. He could not be trusted. Until Damen had enough sway in his father’s home to demand Laurent be permitted otherwise, what liberties he did have would remain limited.

A servant came a short time later, knocking and entering as Nik bid them inside. They carried in two crystalline glasses and a large bottle of clear distilled spirit that they placed between Damen and Nikandros. Silently, the servant eyed the half-eaten platter of food and spilled wine. Without being asked, they immediately set to work cleaning up.

Damen examined the bottle and groaned, letting his head fall to rest on the table heedless of the servant’s presence as they continued to work in silence. Nik leaned over, uncorked the griva, and grabbed the nearest cup, filling it to the brim before sliding it across the table.

“Come, forget what has happened today and drink. This is my uncle's special reserve,” Nik beamed proudly, pouring himself a glassful and holding it up for Damen to mirror the action.

“[Not your uncle’s griva](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/679789992838430800/716507974356434984/tumblr_inline_o4zclnbIBW1qzq93b_500.png),” Damen whined but downed its contents all the same. They both hissed at the burn but continued drinking until that bottle was empty, too.

\--

Perhaps it was the liquid courage, but more likely it was something Nik had said that made Damen shamble drunkenly toward the stables in the middle of the night. He thought back briefly to how he’d gotten here.

One cup of griva had tasted like liquid fire, two cups had eased his nerves, and by the third, Damen’s tongue was loosened enough to tell Nikandros everything. The contents of the scroll were no longer a mystery to him; Damen had written to Laurent’s older brother, who had also been exiled from Inlustris and was being held in the Earthblood kingdom of Flos Ligno. Though prisoners such as he were not traditionally permitted to write and receive letters, Auguste was still subject to answer a royal summons from someone of Damen’s standing.

He must not have seen the request as an affront and had enthusiastically penned everything he could fit onto a single piece of parchment about his younger brother, writing until there was not an inch of space left. His beautifully penned words had warmed Damen’s heart to read, making him wonder if his own brother thought of him so. Did Kastor still remember little details of their youth spent together, short though it had been before their father had begun grooming him to inherit the throne? Would he be so inclined to talk lovingly of his memories with Damen as Auguste had of Laurent?

Nik had chided Damen then, having caught the moony look in his eye before it was even fully formed into words. He’d told Damen to strike all thoughts of trying to establish any sort of meaningful relationship with their Startouched captive. It didn’t matter how similar Damen perceived them to be. Family was family, and he would never be more than Laurent’s enemy. That’s what Lux Aurea and Damen represented to him, the ones who had helped imprison him against his will for a crime he and his family had committed. While it was befitting of the deeds they had done, it would not be something easy to forgive or forget. The sooner Damen got that through his head and overcame this senseless obsession, the better he would be for it.

There were other pastimes Damen could indulge in if he were bored, Nik had suggested. Perhaps a trip to the summer palace, a hunt along the outskirts of the midnight desert, maybe even a pretty pleasure slave just to name a few of the many distractions Nikandros highlighted. And that was also when Nik asked whether or not Damen had gone for his aforementioned ride in the afternoon.

 _“Of course I didn’t,"_ he’d slurred, drunk and embarrassed by the way his equally intoxicated friend laughed at him from the other side of the table. It was funny, Nik cackled, how few disappointments Damen had experienced in his short life that one little slight such as this had him sulking in his chambers for nearly half the day.

 _“I wonder though, is Matu sad you did not return to her?”_ Nik had asked aloud, swirling the remainder of the griva in his cup once he’d settled.

That’s when it hit him. Damen had prepared his mount for an afternoon outing earlier in the day but failed to return before nightfall. Matu was ornery on the best of days, even with him, but would the stable hands have been brave enough to remove her flight harness and groom her down without Damen’s presence to help soothe her? Would any of them refuse to do that task out of fear their prince was still planning to ride her later in the evening? Was she still saddled and waiting for him?

Servants were interesting things, Damen thought. They often only worked when commanded to do so but not without being given specific directives first. It’s what eventually prompted Damen out of his room after Nik had retired for the evening, the griva long since gone. Though their talk had done nothing to dissuade him, Damen could still appreciate that Nikandros was looking out for his best interests.

The trip to the stables wasn’t easy. Damen’s feet refused to obey him, and walking in a straight line was far more complicated than he remembered earlier in the day, but he finally made it.

Tonight's air was crisp and cool, a wonderful reprieve from the sun that had made Lux Aurea its home. No servants were visible, and the doors were shut for the night. It took a little effort to draw open one of them, but Damen was determined. Once inside, the gently flickering flames of the inferno tiger's twin-tails held within helped guide him toward the back where Matu was waiting.

He got about four steps in before Damen realized he was not alone.

In the shadows, by Matu's stall, familiar flecks of starlight glimmered on an exposed arm's silhouette. This stranger was pressed up against the gate that kept Damen's mount contained, her large blocky head could be seen leaning over the top. Now focused on the scene before him, he heard it, the unmistakable low rumble emanating from deep within Matu's chest. She was purring as she nuzzled her jaw into the hand smoothing her mane.

A cloak covered the stranger, their hood drawn up to obscure any distinguishing features. They chose that moment to turn to him, and the movement shocked Damen. He stumbled back, eyes searching for a hint of their face in the darkness, and failed to catch himself before tumbling gracelessly onto his backside.

He didn't even feel the landing.

"I thought we were going for a ride?" a voice called out.

That hushed, airy tone could only belong to one person, and Damen felt his breath leave him when the brilliant blue of Laurent's eyes flashed at him from underneath the material of his hood like diamonds in the night. His cloak featured a starburst symbol over his head, the mark of his family's house, and the cloth of it was cut to cover only the tops of his shoulders before trailing along behind him with the remainder of his robes. Now turned to face him, the luminescent ink from Laurent’s markings shimmered as any minute source of light touched them.

Laurent truly was beautiful.

Damen found himself scrambling to get up but was unable to do so as Laurent approached quickly, his footsteps silent as a ghost. He drew to a stop about a meter from Damen and crouched down low to rest bare forearms atop his knees. His expression was neutral, betraying nothing.

"I didn't-" Damen stammered, suddenly feeling more light-headed than he had on the walk over here. "I thought you-"

"Weren't you the one who asked me?"

Damen shut his mouth and nodded slowly, the up and down motion of it causing his vision to spin.

"Perhaps tomorrow?" Laurent suggested, blinking once before standing back up to his full height. He used no title or honorific when speaking to Damen and did not bother to offer Damen a hand up. In fact, Laurent didn't even seem to acknowledge him anymore as he side-stepped Damen and left without so much as another word.

Damen turned to look over his shoulder and could only watch silently from the ground as moonlight entering through the open doorway seemed to engulf Laurent's form whole. He stepped outside and spread his arms wide to soak up the light from the night sky. Damen stared transfixed as it seeped into his skin, through him, sparking like a fire stoked.

Laurent was not just beautiful, Damen thought then; he was radiant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks again to [cheekysstyles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheekysstyles) and [Vixen13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vixen13) for all their help! Updates happen as soon as I finish drafting two chapters ahead. Hopefully they will be consistent, but I mean... who knows? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	3. Chapter 3 // Laurent

* * *

  
Something unexpected was delivered to Laurent’s chambers the morning after his midnight run-in with the Sunfire princeling.

It was a small scrap of paper, possibly just an afterthought from whoever wrote it as it had no seal.

He didn’t bother to thank the servant, only accepting the parchment gracefully and waiting until they saw themselves out. The moment the doors of his room were closed, Laurent unfolded the paper and began reading over the words written on it.

It was from Auguste, likely delivered days, maybe even weeks ago. Laurent had not dared to hope that he and his brother would be allowed to correspond; what was the point of exile if one did not feel sufficiently cut-off from their prior life? His curiosity was insatiable, and he found himself reading and rereading the same lines again and again in his brother’s familiar scrawl. It was a joy to see the masterful loops that made Auguste’s handwriting so distinct. Laurent wasn’t even aware he was smiling until the fatigue of the muscles in his cheeks alerted him to the fact it had come on slowly, naturally, and overstayed its welcome.

The paper was filled-in from top to bottom, not an ounce of space wasted. Clearly, Auguste had tried his best to write small and failed. It was not in his nature to do anything on a minuscule scale.

He was doing all right, the letter said, and adjusting to his new prison, though Auguste referred to it as a home. Already it would appear he had accepted his fate and was doing what he could to make the best of a bad situation. It was very much characteristic of him too, Laurent thought, walking over to his bed and sitting. Of the two of them, Auguste had always been the optimist, sure that things would work out in the end, that negative experiences were merely transient and all bad things were fleeting if given enough time to pass.

Laurent, however, could not attest to being cut from the same cloth as his brother. He had always been praised as the realist, the more pragmatic of the two in everything he did. There would be no happiness here for him just as there should not have been for Auguste in Flos Ligno.

Yet, proof of the very opposite was stated on the paper before him. Auguste wrote about the flora and fauna native to the Earthblood’s region, how each being he came into contact with was full of such life and vigor that he now understood why the Earth arcanum was often associated with growth and healing. Everyone treated him kindly, he said, not at all like a prisoner ought to have been, and he was forming a fast friendship with one of his guards after he’d learned Auguste to be proficient in combat.

From a very young age, it was clear that Auguste had been gifted with the skill to fight and the braun to match it, whereas Laurent’s only talent was a deep connection to his primal source of magick, one which had transcended in his 150th year to include the Sky and Moon arcanums. Learning more than one source of magick was incredibly rare but not entirely unheard of. There had been some accounts of other Startouch elves mastering those arcanums and more in the past, but it was not the norm. For Laurent, it was the only thing that had made him worth anything in his father’s eyes.

But that connection was gone now, severed completely the day Laurent had been crowned with the magick addler. He would never again find solace in his magicks; they were forbidden to him. All he had left to look forward to were minor distractions such as books and an endless supply of free time. Neither of which were as appealing to him as returning to his old way of life, for that was a place he could only revisit in dreams.

He looked down at the last paragraph on the bottom of the page. Auguste had also written that he hoped Laurent was getting on just as well as him, though he knew the nature of their punishments were different and that what had been done to Laurent could not as easily be undone nor forgotten. What unspeakable act their uncle had committed… it wasn’t fair that Laurent should have to pay that price, too. He couldn’t imagine how Laurent must feel. It was wrong, and it was cruel. It wasn’t fair that he should be punished just because the high council was fearful of what they could not understand or believed they could not control. But if this was their life now, Laurent continued reading as his throat grew thick with emotion, then he should try to enjoy whatever small pleasures he could still partake in while they were available to him. Auguste finished by writing that he hoped Laurent would one day make peace with their sentencing and learn to open up more with others. He needed someone now that Auguste couldn’t be there. Laurent had always had a lonely disposition since the passing of their mother, and Auguste only wished for him to be happy. It was all Auguste had ever wanted for him, both then and now.

Laurent refolded the page, walking it over to his bedside table and placing it down in the open, not bothering to hide it. The only reason he was in possession of this letter in the first place was because someone had deemed its contents inconsequential and not a threat for him to possess. Whether or not he would be allowed to return Auguste’s correspondence or receive more in the future was yet to be determined.

He didn’t bother holding out hope that either option might be possible.

 _I have no need of friends, brother,_ Laurent thought, eyeing a decorative tapestry of mythical beasts hanging on the wall. Sewn into the fabric were depictions of native Sun creatures. Sunbirds sewn in golden threads, twin-tailed inferno tooth tigers patterned in a kaleidoscope of colored patchwork, and the dark silhouette of Sol Regem, behind all of them, stared back at him.

Everything here was mirrored after the current Dragon King. From the design of the city’s architecture down to a lowly Sunfire soldier’s armor, Sol Regem’s presence could be felt everywhere. Laurent didn’t like the way the white blaze of the dragon’s eyes followed him around the room. If Earth magick was associated with growth and healing as Auguste had said, then the Sun’s was steeped in judgement and fury.

He turned away and walked over to his wardrobe in search of clothing appropriate for a ride.

Prince Damianos seemed harmless enough on the surface, but Laurent had been fooled once before. It would take much more than him being nice and offering Laurent other liberties outside of the library to get into his good graces. While the prospect of learning to ride an inferno tooth tiger was tempting for many reasons, Laurent would make sure to be on his guard at all times.

He opened a drawer and eyed his options.

They had not agreed on a designated meeting place or time, but Laurent knew that it would be the prince who waited for him. Time was something he had a lot of these days, and the asinine display he’d shown Laurent last night in the stables was proof enough that Damianos was nothing more than a drunken imbecile, weak to a few hushed words and the slightest flicker of interest. It was as obvious now as it had been weeks before what he thought of Laurent based on his lingering gazes and why now he was so intent on garnering Laurent’s attention.

It made Laurent queasy to think about. And while he could never make peace with what had been done to him, he could with other proclivities that he was willing to do to get his way.

The princeling fool hadn’t even bothered to ask why Laurent was in the stables in the first place, and it was the only thing working in his favor at the moment. Likely, no one was aware that he’d been helping himself into the mounts’ stables for many nights now, unattended while the rest of the palace slept. The royal guard and family must have truly believed him too helpless to worry about without access to magick.

They were wrong.

It had been tricky the first time, Laurent remembered, trading his longer robes for shorter ones. Sneaking in after the last stable hand left was easier once Laurent learned their patterns, which, like everything else in Lux Aurea, were predictable. Initially, he’d gone in with the desire to see what mounted options were available to him and, with enough luck perhaps, if it might be something he could easily ride to escape from his captors.

But the Sun kingdom wasn’t unusual in that they had a strong sense of pride in their native beasts. Every single mount had been an inferno tooth tiger, and they’d hissed and spit at Laurent each time he tried to approach them for a better look.

All but one that is. The female in the last stall.

She was grand, larger than any of the other mounts by at least two hands. Instead of rejecting him on sight as the others had, she’d watched with curiosity while he fished a saved morsel from his last meal out of his robes to coax her close. After that initial encounter, she’d become friendlier, leaning out of her pen to sniff at Laurent and lick his fingers in search of further treats. With enough time, he might have been able to win her over and one day plot a fruitful escape, but Damianos had hijacked that plan last night.

Laurent finished adjusting his pants and took one last look at the scrap of a letter he’d received from Auguste.

Today needed to be viewed as an opportunity, not the one he’d envisioned, but something he could take advantage of nonetheless. He would go on this _ride_ , he would be cordial, and he would continue to do whatever was necessary as long as it assured him regular access to a dedicated mount. Prince Damianos was unwittingly giving Laurent the key to his freedom and the know-how to seize it.

Readjusting his clothes one final time, Laurent turned toward the door and made his way to the stables.  
  


* * *

  
As expected, Laurent arrived to witness Lux Aurea’s second prince, Damianos, and his guard, the one with familiar triangular markings, waiting for him. He would have smirked at his prediction coming true had he not promised to be so stoic earlier.

“You came,” Damianos said with a relieved smile, his stance relaxing ever so slightly. His guard, on the other hand, only intensified his glare. Laurent would be sure to commit that one’s name to memory; he was not a fan of this particular sentry and would do well to dissuade Damianos from encouraging him to chaperone any of their future meetings, if there were to be any more beyond this one.

Laurent didn’t acknowledge the prince’s words. Instead, he made a beeline for the stables' open doors. He knew why they were here and preferred not to waste any time dallying with useless small talk. Maybe if he ignored the prince long enough, he would finally give up focusing all his attention on Laurent.

Once inside, Laurent walked straight to the largest female’s stall. She must have smelled him because her head was up and over the gate of her pen before he got there. Her jaws opened and stretched in a wide yawn that produced no sound. Laurent reached up to pet her, only stopping short when he heard someone hiss in the background. He looked over his shoulder and caught sight of Damianos’ guard in the doorway. Something like panic was written on his features, and he was a hair’s breadth from running past his prince and shoving Laurent away from the inferno tooth tiger’s pen.  
  
“Exalted,” he whispered harshly, giving the prince a sharp look of concern. “Matu-”

“Settle, Nik.” Damianos didn’t bother hiding the fact he was staring at Laurent intently. “Watch.”

Dismissing the two of them silently, Laurent reached up higher. He allowed the mount, who he now knew now was named Matu, to nuzzle into the palm of his hand. Laurent let her scent him and moved to tangle his fingers in the rich teal coloring of her mane. She gave a deep purr of affection at the gesture and slumped further over the stall to butt the top of her head against Laurent’s. Their horns clacked, and a faint metallic chime of the addler rang out to accompany her happy rumbling.

Satisfied with her reaction to him, Laurent turned and caught sight of the prince’s guard, Nik, with his jaw practically on the floor. He was sputtering and pointing between his prince and Laurent, struggling to get words out.

“She—but… you!”

Damianos voiced the laugh Laurent refused to and clapped his guardian on the shoulder. “Full of surprises,” he smiled and offered Laurent a wink.

A shiver of some sort ran down Laurent’s spine.

“Come, let us saddle her.” The prince walked forward, ignoring his still speechless guard, and called for a stable hand to bring him a flight saddle. A youth barely half of the prince’s massive height appeared a moment later, lugging a large leather harness complete with reins and a wide seat. He managed to drag it half the distance to the stall before Damianos relieved him of the weight and walked the rest of the way to Matu’s pen himself. The gesture was unexpected but not unusual. Perhaps the prince was just in a hurry.

Laurent felt Matu tense under his hand at Damianos’ presence. Still, she didn’t hiss or spit the way the other mounts had. He retracted his touch and stepped back to allow Damianos some space. The prince unlatched her stall, clicking his tongue at her to back up. She did, somewhat begrudgingly, and Laurent watched the prince walk into her pen with an air of superiority that could only come from being raised a noble.

“Good girl,” Damianos murmured to her.

Her twin-tails swished slowly from side to side, but Laurent wasn’t sure if it was in greeting or agitation. He kept still either way as one of the prince’s large hands came up and gently pressed for Matu to lower the wing closest to him. She dipped to the side, allowing him to pitch the flight harness over her, its belt loops undone and dangling at her sides.

Damianos then dropped down to one knee and began fastening the leads together. Laurent watched as he worked, noticing the notches Damianos used for Matu’s comfort and the skillful knots he tied off to ensure the belt buckles were secured in place. Matu had stopped purring once Laurent’s hand left her, a sign she was more on edge, but she didn’t fight the prince while he worked.

“There we go.” Laurent watched Prince Damianos rise from the ground and signal for his guard to finish preparing the other mounts. “Let us take her outside,” he suggested while making sure to keep his grip firm on her reins.

They walked out of the stable in silence, Laurent trailing only slightly behind the prince. Once out in the open, Matu stretched her wings and gave them an experimental flap. It was a wonder that these beasts carried a rider when it hardly seemed they could generate enough power to take off, but Laurent had caught sight of them plenty of times before from the wide windows in the Great Library. He could hardly imagine what a mount like Matu was capable of. Soon enough, he would know.

“Here.” Laurent turned his head to the voice. Damianos was offering him a hand. The wing closest to him was tipped down again in a position that would make it easier for a rider to hop on her back. Matu was big, and the assistance would likely be appreciated by anyone else, but Laurent wasn’t everyone else. He purposefully ignored the prince and walked to the other side of Matu, who instinctively lowered her other wing to allow Laurent to climb into the saddle without help.

If his actions offended the prince, he didn’t say anything. Instead, Damianos just smiled, a faint dimple appeared on his left cheek. Laurent chose to ignore that and gathered up the reins.

“Exalted,” Nik huffed, trampling out of the stables with a second mount and struggling to climb into his own saddle. He looked back and forth between Laurent and his prince, confusion clear on his face. Damianos stilled him with a raised hand.

Laurent should have been paying attention to why that mattered. Maybe then he wouldn’t have been so stunned by what happened next. Instead of commanding the stable hand to bring another mount so that each rider had their own, the prince opted to help himself into the same saddle as Laurent. He was large enough to get on Matu without any assistance, but the arm he slung around Laurent’s middle might have helped too. Laurent felt himself stiffen at the contact, back going ramrod straight as the prince adjusted himself. Damianos’ legs bracketed him in and his hand moved over Laurent’s to gently relieve him of the reins.

It took all of Laurent’s control not to jerk away from the touch. Slowly, he turned to glance at the Sunfire prince over his shoulder and fixed him with the most intense stare he could muster without breaking his civil facade.

Whatever look he gave Damianos must have been strong enough that he shied away a little.

“Well, uh,” the prince chuckled nervously under his breath. “Matu _is_ my mount.” He said that as though it excused him from invading Laurent’s personal space, as though it pardoned him from being pressed up against Laurent’s back.

“I figured this set-up would work best since I’m not just taking you for a run. You’ve never been flying before, right?”

Laurent didn’t acknowledge him, turning back around and fixing Nik with the same intense glare he’d given his prince, daring him to comment on what was transpiring. The guard did the wisest thing; he kept his mouth shut and looked away.

Together they lumbered off from the stables at a steady trot. The inferno tooth tigers had an odd gait, very different from the smooth ride of a luminynx. Part of it was because their front limbs were longer than the back, but still, they covered good ground in a short amount of time. Damianos chatted idly as they rode, explaining what he’d planned. Today’s flight was to be more of a glide out to the outcrops; Matu was yet untested in riding double as she was finicky on even the best of days. But since she’d seemed to have taken quite a shine to Laurent, the prince was willing to experiment.

Soon enough, they were slowing near the edge of Lux Aurea’s high cliffs. Damianos tightened his hold on the reins, and Matu came to a complete stop a few meters short of the drop. Being in front of the saddle gave Laurent the most breathtaking view. Sunfire kingdom was full of mountain ranges, live volcanoes, and steep cliffs that met the sea. The ones that bordered the edge of the palace grounds were tall, pristine, and white from the intensity of the sun that reflected off the water below. In the distance, carried on the breeze, Laurent could hear the faint calls of sunbirds and fireflyers. There were other riders traveling on the horizon, small garrisons of soldiers learning to command their mounts while others worked to deliver goods in between the outcrops of agricultural fields being tended nearby.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Laurent felt more than heard the prince breathe out from behind him.

Seeing everything happening now, outside of the palace, Laurent was inclined to agree. It all felt more real with the wind on his face and the smell of salt water in the air. He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath, lost in the moment. Nik, for his part, had remained silent thus far. If Laurent kept his eyes shut, it almost felt like he was alone.

“Are you ready?”

Almost.

Laurent didn’t even get the chance to ask the prince what he was supposed to be ready for when he heard the sharp snap of Matu’s reins. They were moving again, faster this time. Matu’s gallops closed the gap between where they had stopped and the edge of the cliff When she leapt into the air, Laurent felt his heart shoot up into his throat and immediately plummet into his stomach. It was all he could do to scramble for the rider’s pommel in front of him and hold on tight. Matu’s weight combined with the heavy presence of two riders dropped her faster than she was accustomed, and it took a moment for her wings to fully unfurl and catch the warm updraft from the sea below.

The first flap of her mighty wings jostled Laurent’s legs. He hadn’t been expecting it. Flying was vastly different from riding, and he was secretly grateful that Damianos’ giant form was behind him to ensure that he didn’t slip or fall as they glided from one clifftop to another. He watched with moderate trepidation as Matu tugged her head from side to side, fighting Damianos’ guidance to their destination, a tableland not far off.

Nik and his tiger took the leap not long after them and were keeping pace with the prince and Laurent as they made their way to a large enough outrop boasting a wide plateau covered in rich greenery. Matu flapped her wings a few times to slow their descent and keep them from skidding off the ledge. Her claws scrapped against the earth transported here to transform the land into an air garden. The prince must have chosen this one in particular because it was large enough for two or more riders to land comfortably without coming into contact with the gardener and the small field of cabbages he was tending. Nik landed soundly alongside them a moment later.

“Exalted,” the worker called out in a respectful tone and prostrated himself down into the soil he’d been tilling.

“At ease,” the prince said, shifting slightly behind Laurent. His movement wasn’t unbearable, but it was awkward. “How are the high gardens coming along?”

The tone in which the prince had asked almost made it seem like he was genuinely interested. Laurent peered over at Nik and caught him rolling his eyes. It would appear he was not the only one uninterested in the goings-on of the working class. Asking a lowly worker for their thoughts wouldn’t yield nearly as much information as speaking with the commissioner in charge of agriculture, but Laurent kept that opinion to himself.

“V-very well! These’ll be ready for harvest soon, Exalted,” the gardener sat up but made sure his eyes did not meet the prince’s own.

“That is good to know. Thank you for your service to this kingdom.”

“Th-thank you, Exalted!” Having been politely dismissed, the gardener went back to work, toiling away with even more vigor than before.

“Perhaps we should head back,” Nik said after a moment of silence had passed. “It’s quite a ride up the cliffside if we take the Seastone Path.”

“Of course,” Damianos sighed, sounding somewhat rueful. He was moving behind Laurent again. “Here,” he said as he leaned closer still, one of his large hands coming to rest atop Laurent’s still on the pommel.

It wasn’t difficult for the prince to pry his grip off the flight harness. Normally the action would have caused Laurent to flinch away because he had not been expecting Damianos to touch him again with such familiarity. As soon as Matu’s reins were transferred into his hands, Laurent forgot why he was even upset in the first place. He’d agreed to this, had wanted this, to learn how to ride a winged-beast, how to fly so that one day he might escape Lux Aurea and never look back. He just hadn’t expected the prince to give his trust so quickly and least of all without making Laurent earn it.

Prince Damianos really was a complete and utter fool.

“Slowly now,” the prince murmured behind him, his hands tracing up from Laurent’s and onto his forearms. He was guiding them toward a pathway carved into the cliffside they’d descended from. A large jagged plateau jutted out from its otherwise flat surface. It looked more than wide enough to receive riders and allow them ample space to land. From here, it would be easy to glide the distance, Laurent could tell. They were higher on this outcrop than the landing itself. Below them, other riders could be seen making the trip up through the long stone pathway. As Nik had said, it would likely take another hour or so to return to the stables using that route, unless… Laurent reexamined the cliffside again, eyes roving higher still.

He’d seen other mounts like Matu take the weight of more than a single rider and fly, not just glide. Surely at her size, she could do as much. Laurent readjusted her reins in his hands and nodded. He tugged and wheeled Matu around to set up for a running start. Damianos seemed to think nothing of this approach; his body was still lax behind Laurent as they made a brief circuit around the edge of the tableland, opposite the plateau Damianos had pointed out.

At present, he was distracted and in the middle of discussing an upcoming meeting with his personal guard. Laurent paid them no mind and gave no warning before he jerked the reins back hard. He kicked the heels of his boots into Matu’s flanks, probably a little more forcefully than he’d meant to if her response was anything to go by, and she snarled as she reared up. Damianos, unprepared for such a reaction, nearly toppled off her back. His arms surged forward to wind around Laurent’s middle to try and regain some sense of stability as they raced from one end of the outcrop to the other. They cut through the lines of cabbages growing nearby as Laurent pulled the reins to readjust their flight angle. Matu’s big forepaws smashed the vegetables underfoot back into the dirt much to the chagrin of the worker only a few rows away. At least he had enough sense to scramble away before Matu could trample him running through the field while opening her wings. She was going fast, faster than Damen had spurred her on in their first take off.

“Wh-what are you—”

The prince wasn’t able to finish his sentence before they were jumping off the edge of the tableland.

Shrill screeches of “Exalted” and “[My cabbages](https://media.giphy.com/media/mwErnt1MeDBcs/giphy.gif)” followed them as Matu flapped her wings to try and gain altitude. Laurent was steering her away from the lower plateau and back toward the high cliffside they had started from.

Gliding had been easy. It took a minimum of effort to float from one cliffside to another, but flying two riders in a saddle was clearly not something she was accustomed to. Damianos had briefly mentioned this before when they’d left the stables, but he should never have trusted Laurent with the reins if he didn’t think he’d try to push for more.

It should have been easy to get her to take them there. She was plenty strong. But what Matu possessed in physical strength, she seemed to lack in formal training. Laurent tightened his grip on the reins as she jostled her big head, trying to tug him back toward the safer landing, willfully fighting against Laurent’s command.

Before the addler, before his supposed crimes, before his uncle, Laurent had been one of the best riders in Inlustris, second only to his brother Auguste. Laurent knew Matu could handle this. It was what she was bred for. Maybe if the prince or another trainer had bothered to deal with her obstinance in the first place, forced her to handle more than a single rider in flight, she would be more obedient. Laurent didn’t plan on allowing Matu any other recourse than to trust in his direction.

He tugged back again, harder on purpose this time. She had to gain more height or they really would slam into the cliffside. Matu was definitely capable of holding their combined weight; she just needed a more forceful guiding hand to get her to obey instructions. Laurent held firm. If he allowed Matu to shy away at the last second, veer back to a safer path where she was allowed to break away from his influence, he would never be able to get out of here.

He _knew_ how to handle a mount. He just needed her to trust in him, to prove to her, and to himself by extension, that she could do this, that _he_ could do this. They needed to do this together.

Trusting in his instincts, Laurent let go of the reins with one hand and slipped his fingers into her mane, the usual spot where he knew she liked to be scratched best. The muscles of her neck were tense, but her skin shuddered under his touch. Only they existed in this moment, Prince Damianos forgotten behind him, his guard and the laborer not even more than an afterthought.

Laurent leaned forward, his voice almost lost to the rush of the wind all around them.

“Come on, girl!”

They still crashed into the cliff face all the same. Matu roared on impact while Laurent and his clinging passenger winced from the saddle. She’d managed to gain enough height before the impact but was hanging half off the flat surface of the clifftop. Her taloned front claws dug into the ground of the plateau where there was little purchase in the hard stone. Bits of rock flicked back at her riders as she struggled to climb. Her rear claws were not as sharp as the front, and she fought for any leverage she could manage.

“Matu!”

Someone was screaming.

Laurent leaned forward, his grip tightening in her fur.

With a final thunderous roar, she made it. Her wings beat violently to help aid her climb, and they were finally back on flat land.

“Exalted!” Nik’s mount came crashing down next to them, causing another bellow to sound from deep within Matu’s chest. She hissed to keep the other inferno tooth tiger at bay. “What is wrong with you?” That question was clearly aimed at Laurent himself. The prince’s guard hurriedly dismounted and stormed over to them, his hand coming to rest on the pommel of his short sword.

It was only then that Laurent realized someone was laughing, and it wasn’t him. Prince Damianos was hunched over, his face buried in the hair at the back of Laurent’s neck. Hot gusts breath wafted along whatever little skin Laurent’s high collar didn’t cover, and the pain in his midsection where the prince was still holding onto him with a deathgrip suddenly made itself known.

“That was… you’re incredible,” the prince said like a compliment, finally removing his arm and slipping off Matu. Laurent could see her tongue lolling out of her wide jaws. She was clearly stressed by what had transpired, but wasn’t fighting to buck him off.

They’d actually made it. He’d done it, the impossible thing no one before him had been able to do, cow a willful mount such a Matu to his will.

“My good girl,” Laurent whispered, leaning forward. He brought his hand back to her head and stroked idly between her horns, anything to block out the prince’s guard shouting about how Damianos, no, he’d called him Damen, should have never allowed them to go for a ride in the first place, should have never flown on Matu, never given a novice such as Laurent the reins.

“Calm down, Nikandros. Surely you will work yourself into a fit. I am fine. _We_ are fine. No one is worse for wear.”

“But you could hav-”

“Everything is well, my friend. There is no need for hysterics.”

But the guard, ever steadfast in his position to protect, was having none of it. Nikandros’ face was scrunched in that familiar judgmental way when he glared back at Laurent, who might have been inclined to return the look if Damianos had not spun around to reach for the reins still in Laurent’s hand. He relinquished control immediately knowing this was not a battle he was ready to fight.

“Come,” he said, tugging Matu forward with a flick of his wrist. “Let us return her to her stall so she may rest.” Damianos did not move to rejoin Laurent in the saddle and instead chose to lead them on foot at a leisurely pace back in the direction of the stables.

He and his guard argued some more, very much like old friends, but neither paid Laurent any more mind after that.

Along their walk, Laurent caught himself stealing brief glances at the back of the young princeling who had tirelessly continued to defend Laurent’s reckless behavior. Putting the life of a royal in danger could be considered treasonous; his punishment could have easily been _deathly_ severe if the prince had allowed his guard to confront Laurent and have his lawful way.

But he did not, and that made all the difference somehow.

From high up on Matu, as she lumbered her way across the plain, Laurent found himself thinking that Prince Damianos was very stupid. He was horrendously naive and far too trusting by half, but he might also have been a little kind too.

Laurent swore to himself he would not let that sway his heart. For it was kindness that had made a fool of him, too, once before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Yooooooo_... this has been a long time coming, sorry it took me so long. A lot of crazy things have happened in the last couple of months, but hopefully I'll be getting more on track in the next couple weeks. I definitely hope to finish this before the end of the year so please bear with me a little while longer. As always, thank you again to my wonderful friend and beta [cheekysstyles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheekysstyles) for all of your help with this chapter!


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